TechCrunch Daily Crunch Music publishers sue Anthropic for $3B over ‘flagrant piracy’ of 20,000 works
5 snips
Jan 30, 2026 A major lawsuit claims an AI company illegally downloaded over 20,000 musical works and faces a $3 billion demand. The legal fallout is traced back to prior rulings and expanded discovery that widened the allegations. Tech industry moves include Spotify adding group chats and a steep Reality Labs loss that raises questions about its 2026 outlook.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Use Spotify Group Chats For Small Sharing
- Use Spotify's group chats to share playlists and podcasts with small groups of up to 10 people.
- Start chats only with users you've previously shared content with or who collaborated on playlists.
Reality Labs' Ongoing Billions In Losses
- Meta's Reality Labs lost $19.1 billion in 2025 and expects similar losses in 2026.
- The large, sustained losses underline uncertainty about Meta's VR pivot and its profitability prospects.
Massive Copyright Claims Against Anthropic
- Anthropic allegedly downloaded over 20,000 copyrighted musical works to train its models.
- Publishers claim those downloads could trigger more than $3 billion in damages against Anthropic.